Journal of Athletic EnhancementISSN: 2324-9080

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Review Article, J Athl Enhancement Vol: 3 Issue: 3

Temporal Specificity of Training: An Update

Hamdi Chtourou1,2*, Omar Hammouda1,2, Nizar Souissi1,3 and Anis Chaouachi1
1Research Laboratory ''Sports performance optimization'' National Center of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS), Tunis, Tunisia
2High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Sfax, Sfax University, Tunisia
3High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Ksar-Saïd, Manouba University,Tunisia
Corresponding author : Hamdi Chtourou
Research Laboratory “Sport Performance Optimization”, National Centre of Medicine and Sciences in Sport (CNMSS), Bp 263, Ave Med Ali Akid, 1004 El Menzah, Tunis, Tunisia
Tel: + 216 22 87 20 95
E-mail: h_chtourou@yahoo.fr
Received: February 24, 2014 Accepted: May 16, 2014 Published: May 22, 2014
Citation: Chtourou H, Hammouda O, Souissi N, Chaouachi A (2014) Temporal Specificity of Training: An Update. J Athl Enhancement 3:3. doi:10.4172/2324-9080.1000153

Abstract

Temporal Specificity of Training: An Update

Although the diurnal variation of physical and mental performances is widely investigated, to date, few studies have investigated the effect of training at a specific time-of-day on sport performances and/ or competitive outcomes. This intra-daily variation of performances suggest that athletes could be better during competitions at a specific time-of-day than at others moments. Generally, physical performances are better in the afternoon/evening (i.e. ~16:00 to 20:00 h) than in the morning suggesting that athletes are advised to train and to compete later in the day. However, due to some factors, e.g., media program, competitions are scheduled at different timeof- day. Therefore, to achieve the optimal performance during competitions, it is interesting to adjust the time-of-day of training according to the competitions scheduling. In this context, previous studies showed that: (i) regular trainings in the morning hours may  reduce the morning-afternoon differences of sport performances and (ii) regular training in the afternoon hours may increase the morning-afternoon differences of sport performances. For practical recommendations, when the time of competition is not known or when competitions are scheduled at different time-of-day (e.g., judo: eliminations combats are scheduled in the morning and finals combats are scheduled in the afternoon), athletes should be advised to train in the morning. However, when the time of the competition is known, athletes should be advised to coincide the training hours with the time-of-day of competitions.

Keywords: Chronobiology; Sport; Performance; Training at a specific time of day

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